Military Sealift Command: Flexible. Forward. Seapower.

Cesar Chavez (T-AKE 14) conducts a replenishment-at-sea
with Royal Australian frigate HMAS Toowomba (FFG 156). 
(U.S. Navy photo by Master Capt. Rollin J. Bellfi/Released)

Like most of my fellow authors at ID, I’m an unabashed supporter of American Seapower and disappointed to see the slow decline in the Navy’s battle force ship-count.  Bryan has made some pretty compelling arguments for increasing our high end naval combat fleet combatants. But Seapower manifests in many forms. An often over-looked component of U.S. Navy Seapower is our fleet auxiliary force, run by the Military Sealift Command.  Most people are familiar with the oilers and supply ships that deliver fuel, food, parts, and ammo to our combatants, but the MSC’s fleet is much more diverse than combat logistics.

To get a better idea of the variety and importance of this force, allow me to highlight three ongoing missions, in three different theaters, using three completely different platforms.  In the far reaches of the southern Indian Ocean, a handful of international ships continue a wide-ranging search for any trace of missing Malaysia Air flight 370.  Keeping these ships moving and fed is USNS Cesar Chavez (T-AKE 14). This sort of underway replenishment combat logistics mission is MSC's bread and butter, with dozens of similar operations occurring around the globe every day and night.

In the Mediterranean, another MSC ship is deployed for a unique and historical mission - to dispose of Syria’s chemical weapons.  MV Cape Ray, part of the Transportation Department Maritime Administration’s Ready Reserve Force, departed Portsmouth in late January.  The ship has spent most of its deployment pier-side in Rota while Syria stalls in fulfilling its UN-mandated obligations to aggregate the stockpiles at Latakia for transport and neutralization at sea. Whether or not the ship will ever get to execute its intended mission remains to be seen. Nevertheless, the fact that this operation was able to spin up so quickly and embark the U.S. Army’s chemical neutralization equipment demonstrates the agility of our heavy sealift ships.

Along the volatile west coast of Africa, USNS Spearhead (JHSV 1) and her joint training teams are deployed for Africa Partnership Station (APS), conducting maritime security capacity building, and exercises.  The ship has even embarked African coast guards and navies for real-world fisheries enforcement operations.  Although APS deployments have been happening for several years, this marks the first trial of the concept using the new Joint High Speed Vessel.  Eventually 10 JSHVs will become part of MSC’s sealift fleet, conducting a wide range of logistics and combat support missions. From everything I’m hearing, they are already being fought over by the geographic combatant commanders.

U.S. Navy Sailors and members of the Liberian Coast Guard observe boat operations during a joint familiarization exercise aboard the U.S. Navy's joint high-speed vessel USNS Spearhead (JHSV 1). Spearhead, the U.S. Navy's first-in-class joint, high-speed vessel, is on its maiden deployment supporting theater security cooperation efforts and the international collaborative capacity-building program, Africa Partnership Station, in the U.S. 6th Fleet area of operations. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist Seaman Justin R. DiNiro/Released)  

At this point, I should brag on my fellow citizen Sailors.  Two of the missions I've mentioned couldn't happen without the dedication of Navy Reservists on extended active duty.  While the ships themselves are operated by the MSC's civil mariners, reservists make up a significant portion of the mission teams aboard Cape Ray and Spearhead, to include some key leadership positions. Reservists are also part of USS Ponce's mission in the Arabian Gulf.  Naval operations are often come-as-you-are affairs, and there are no better folks at rapidly and seamlessly partnering with the MSC for operational pick-up games than our reserve Sailors.

When considering long term budgets and acquisition plans, our capital combat ships are extremely important.  But the flexibility and strategic reach of our military sealift force is what makes us a global naval power.  The above ships represent just a small part of the MSC's inventory.  Other vessels are prepositioned around the world to support major contingency operations. Still others support salvage, submarine rescue, or special operations missions.  Time after time, MSC has demonstrated the ability to get equipment to the fight and sustain our warfighters.

Any opinions expressed in the preceding post are those of the author alone and not representative of the U.S. Navy or any other organization.

Dangerous Business

PACIFIC OCEAN (March 17, 2024) The Military Sealift Command fleet replenishment oiler USNS Rappahannock (T-AO 204) pulls alongside the amphibious assault ship USS Boxer (LHD 4) for a replenishment at sea. Boxer is the flagship of the Boxer Amphibious Ready Group, which is underway with the 13th Marine Expeditionary Unit (13th MEU) on a deployment to the western Pacific Ocean. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Trevor Welsh/Released)

In case you were wondering, the .50 Cal on the US Navy oiler USNS Rappahannock (T-AO 204) does work.

An embarked security team aboard a U.S. Navy vessel fired upon a small motor vessel after it disregarded warnings and rapidly approached the U.S. ship near Jebel Ali, United Arab Emirates today.

In accordance with Navy force protection procedures, the sailors on the USNS Rappahannock (T-AO 204) used a series of non-lethal, preplanned responses to warn the vessel before resorting to lethal force.

The U.S. crew repeatedly attempted to warn the vessel's operators to turn away from their deliberate approach. When those efforts failed to deter the approaching vessel, the security team on the Rappahannock fired rounds from a .50-caliber machine gun.

The incident is under investigation.

An Oiler in a dangerous part of the world monitoring a threatening approach by a vessel ignoring the warnings of the force protection team on the ship? That wasn't going to end well. It becomes a damned if you do, damned if you don't situation for well trained folks who have seconds to make a decision. Tough call.

We want people who can make the right decision. We don't want people who can't make a tough decision. The investigation will reveal where within those categories this incident falls.

According to local reports in UAE, the incident left 1 dead and 3 wounded.

A bit of a historical note - if you have seen photo's on the internet of the M/V Hyundai Fortune incident, those photos were taken by the crew of the HNLMS De Zeven Provincien (F 802). For that incident, the French Navy aircraft carrier FS Charles De Gaulle (R 91) was where the crew of M/V Hyundai Fortune were evacuated to. The US vessel that responded to that incident was the USNS Rappahannock (T-AO 204). As of a few years ago, there were still folks on the ship who remember M/V Hyundai Fortune. I bet they remember that incident today.

Monday Begins 4th Fleet Week in Haiti - Updated

**See updates at bottom of article.

There are many reasons to be cautiously optimistic, even if the images that will beam into your television screen over the next 48 hours are likely to leave one with a different impression. The President dispatching the Secretary of State to Haiti was an important political and strategic move in support of Haiti, because it sends exactly the right message to the rest of the world. It is unlikely that most Haitian people in Port-au-Prince were even aware of her visit.

The issue is time. The time for recovery operations will end in the very near future and transition to becoming the largest relief operation in the history of the Western Hemisphere. The purpose of Hillary Clinton's visit is many fold, but basically the Secretary of State trip was strategically important to buy time for the United States, the United Nations, and the government of Haiti. Lets briefly examine in reverse order.

The communication emphasis by the State Department is that the Haitian government is leading the effort. There is apparently some truth in that, because the Haitian government effectively led the Toussaint L'Ouverture International Airport in Port-au-Prince right into a logistical nightmare Thursday. They had to fail first to concede operations of the airport to a more capable authority, specifically the US Air Force. Within the context of the unfolding international effort, there will be times the Haitian government will attempt to lead and be allowed to fail in order for more competent authorities to take control. This process has caused delays already in many ways, which is why the US, UN, and international community has to politically buy time for Haiti so the government will get out of their own way. NGO experts who understand Haiti privately will frame this a different way, much less kind than I. We may see more examples of this over the next few days.

The United Nations also needs time. The leadership of the United Nations was decapitated by the earthquake, and as a truly international force each member has been working recovery efforts towards their own people first - as they should. As recovery shifts towards relief, the UN effort will likely become more visible but will remain concentrated to a limited number of locations. Communication challenges are significant for the United Nations, and it will restrict to a great deal what they are capable of doing out among the people until those issues are addressed sufficiently. It will take a great deal of time for the UN to pick itself back up in Haiti, the loss of hundreds of experts and leaders has significantly set back the UN in Haiti, and they need time to regroup.

The United States also needs time, and Hillary Clinton's visit today buys a few days. CCTV, Al Jazeera, BBC, and a great number of other news organizations around the world remain focused on Haiti - the whole world is watching. Barack Obama cannot afford for the world to lose confidence in US efforts to support Haiti. It is a serious political consideration because when the world thinks you are not doing a sufficient job, it can create political distractions. Barack Obama does not need political distractions right now, something leaders in the rest of the world could potentially create. I suspect that one of the next big moves by the White House will be to call for a large international meeting of world leaders to discuss the Haiti situation.

As has been discussed, there are significant strategic interests to the United States at stake. If the US is seen as not sufficiently responding to Haiti in our backyard, it opens up the US to global criticism that will create all kinds of political problems for the President. Rivals will insure our important allies notice that should we be unable to help a country only a few hundred miles from Florida, we would unlikely be able to live up to our commitments in Asia, the Middle East, and elsewhere. If you saw any press conferences today, particularly the Biden press conference, the administration is making emotional appeals that include patience globally by stressing the enormous scope of the disaster and complexity of the effort to respond. The effort is on throughout government at almost every level to set expectations through strategic communications.

It may not make some NGOs happy that the Secretary of State visited Haiti because her plane went instead of someone else, but the parochial issues of a very few NGOs had created other problems we'll discuss in a minute.

The United States Navy is about to do many amazing things in Haiti, and it is going to be interesting to watch it unfold on television. Before looking ahead though, lets review the last 48 hours.

On Friday the USS Carl Vinson (CVN 70) was only able to fly 15 sorties all day, with the helicopters reportedly sitting idle on the flight deck by late afternoon and all night Friday night. Night operations were restricted at the airport because of unlighted power lines and no lights for the control towers. Why were they idle during the day and fly so few sorties? Rear Admiral Ted Branch explains:

"We have no supplies at the airport that we have access to. There are other supplies there that are under the control of other agencies, other organizations and we haven't yet coordinated together to make those supplies available for anyone to deliver," he added...

"We need to get that kind of supply chain process energized to have an efficient route point for the supplies. Unfortunately that doesn't happen overnight," Branch said.

The commander noted that some supplies remain at the airport, and could easily be delivered by US helicopters.

"The problem is, some people are perhaps not ready to release their stuff to the most efficient transportation makers and want to deliver supplies themselves."

Some NGOs were complaining that the US Secretary of State was able to go to Haiti, and their supplies were not allowed in. Well, when a few NGOs made their own relief effort a bigger priority than the overall effort to help the people of Haiti, I imagine that didn't sit well with the Secretary of State. The priority changed, at least for some flights on Saturday, to getting relief supplies to Haiti that can be delivered by the US Navy helicopters that have more mobility in the area than the NGOs expecting flights.

Rear Admiral Ted Branch may have said "that doesn't happen overnight," but based on everything I read and saw on Saturday it looks like he did indeed straighten out whatever supply chain problems there were for his forces overnight. See the USS Carl Vinson (CVN 70) Facebook page for photography of Saturdays operations. The USS Carl Vinson (CVN 70) is building up capability to very shortly begin providing relief to several hundred thousand Haitians a day.

Over the last 48 hours several other activities have been set in motion. The Friday night press conference by SOUTHCOM was excellent. We learned the State Department is supporting a Haitian government radio station and that there were 24 helicopters by Friday supporting relief operations in Haiti. On Saturday morning ADM Roughead told reporters at the USS Independence (LCS 2) commissioning that the Navy intends to build an airport in Haiti. The statement was unclear whether that means expanding the current airport, or start from scratch.

Rear Admiral Victor G. Guillory told the media the Navy is focused on the Port-au-Prince port facilities, and there are several vessels heading to Haiti to assist in that effort. Currently off the coast of Haiti is the USS Carl Vinson (CVN 70), USS Higgins (DDG-76), and four Coast Guard cutters. 22 MEU expects to arrive on Monday on USS Bataan (LHD 5), USS Carter Hall (LSD 50), and USS Fort McHenry (LSD 43), although I read a rumor that USS Carter Hall (LSD 59) may arrive Sunday, being one day ahead of the other two ships. En route is the very important Coast Guard cutter Oak, a buoy tender that can do significant good in the port. This report goes on to note:

Other ships on the way to assist in the operation are the dock landing ship USS Gunston Hall (LSD 41), the cruiser USS Normandy (CG 60), the frigate USS Underwood (FFG 36), the rescue and salvage ship USNS Grasp (ARS 51) and the oceanographic survey ship USNS Henson (T-AGS 63). Additionally, several auxiliary ships from the Military Sealift Command (MSC) are en route and will provide fuel and supplies to sustain the Navy force at sea throughout the operation.

The most noteworthy ship deployment is not mentioned in that Navy report: USNS 1st LT Jack Lummus (T-AK 3011) is scheduled to depart Jacksonville for Haiti on Sunday. Despite being the last asset listed under Navy on the SOUTHCOM Fact File, I believe this is the second most important vessel yet to arrive in Haiti, with the USNS Comfort (T-AH 20) (PDF) being the first.

It is hard to imagine how any other single asset in the world can significantly change the logistics situation in Haiti more effectively than what I expect to be coming on USNS 1ST LT Jack Lummus (T-AK 3011). I suspect she will arrive on Wednesday, which means the Navy may have a Sea Base built and ready for receiving relief by sea by next weekend, just in time for the CNO to talk about it at CNAS on the 26th.

Also not mentioned but listed by SOUTHCOM to be heading for Haiti is USNS Big Horn (T-AO 198), for obvious reasons.

The security problem to date appears to be manageable, even though there are some areas of the city relief workers are being told not to go into right now. The 22 MEU Marines can fix that problem until the UN is ready to resume management, and absent a widespread breakdown of civil order there may be enough boots on the ground to get on top of the relief effort. Based on press reports I am presuming the 24 MEU with Nassau ARG and additional forces from the 2nd Brigade of the 82nd Airborne Division represent the reserve force for security should that become necessary.

There is still one very significant problem ahead. Haiti can suffer from outbreaks of disease on a normal day, and the conditions in Haiti are ripe for a major outbreak. There are thousands of Haitians in need of medical treatment today that will die over the next week. Thousands. The rush to get medical supplies and mobile hospitals into Haiti is not to save those people; many of them will die. The rush is to insure the medical facilities are in place should and perhaps when the major disease outbreak occurs in Haiti. If medical support is on the ground in time, a disease breakout can be managed. Without those NGO hospitals up and supplied, this goes from the very bad it already is to a completely different form of bad we've never seen unfold on live TV before.

Over the next few days, things will continue to get worse in Haiti before they get better. There are many degrees of worse that are still possible though. Right now, only thousands more will die from infection. There is still the potential thousands can turn into tens of thousands, or more, and the resources necessary to prevent the continuing slide towards tens of thousands or more deaths will not yet be in place by late Tuesday afternoon, the one week anniversary of the earthquake.

We are starting to see what the plan is and how it will unfold over the next week. From here on out there is nothing left to do but watch it unfold, observe whether we sufficiently planned the response, and observe to see if we are adaptive to crisis situations that may still emerge. I am cautiously optimist that this is going to work, and when I see the CNO speak on January 26th, it could very well be one of the best public relations days in the Navy to date in the 21st century. I pray it is, for the sake of the people in Haiti.

Update: And update from Captain Conrad Chun, CNO Spokesman.

ADM Roughead DID NOT say "that the Navy intends to build an airport in Haiti." What the CNO said, as stated in the referenced Reuters article is that we were "literally moving in an airport," referring to the aircraft carrier Carl Vinson on station off the coast of Haiti.

Apparently I took the CNO too literally.

The Navy's New Shipbuilding Program

InsideDefense (update your subscription already) is doing a great job reporting on issues surrounding the FY 2011 discussion. Indeed, this is very informative article, except the headline given is quite misleading. I get the impression the reporter didn't quite know exactly what he had, but what he had was very important.

Basically, we have a brand new shipbuilding program, replacing a shipbuilding program that never really got started... but new program will eventually assume the name of the old program?

Yep, something like that. Confused?

The headline Joint Logistics Vessel is what was the Mobile Landing Platform didn't add much clarity, but the details in the article are well reported and help quite a bit.

The gist of the article is that the original Sea Basing program is dead, but in an interview with Jim Strock, director of the Marine Corps seabasing division, he apparently told InsideDefense "the only capability the Navy still needs to make seabasing a reality is an at-sea transfer and surface connector ship, namely the Mobile Landing Platform." The thing that makes this confusing is that "at-sea transfer" system and acting as a "surface connector" are only a few capabilities of the old MLP concept, not what the MLP was in whole. Strock tells InsideDefense the MLP is included in the Navy’s draft long-term shipbuilding report under the name Joint Logistics Vessel (JLV). In my opinion, if Jim Strock actually said it like that, then he may have added to the confusion. The article gets good with the direct quotes though.

"The term JLV was just a flash in the pan," Strock told ITN last week. He said that at this point plans call for the ship to simply be called the Mobile Landing Platform.

"There was a Mobile Landing Platform in design," he said at the conference. "This is a slightly different creature. This is going to be effectively a ship design similar to the heavy lift ships that we have out there today."

"It’s a more basic form of the original Mobile Landing Platform design, but it retains very essential seabasing qualities," he added.

The middle paragraph is the key. This is a brand new shipbuilding program, not the MLP, even though it will carry the name Mobile Landing Platform. Think for a moment about the characteristics used describing this new platform.

The article describes a large heavy lift ship that interfaces with other sealift AND smaller platforms as an at-sea transfer and surface connector for purposes of moving cargo and equipment. As a platform no longer intended to reconfigure Marine forces before sending them ashore, even as it retains that capability on a limited basis, the new ship is better explained as an intermediate transfer station from logistics and lift ships to smaller platforms.

By making the platform less specific to Marine Corps requirements, and using what sounds like a Flo/Flo model with modifications to connect larger and smaller vessels, the Navy may have stumbled right into what sounds like a mothership. It isn't a mothership for smaller unmanned systems like the LCS, rather a mothership to support platforms like HSVs and manned systems like LCACs and LCUs, although there is no reason why it couldn't support manned platforms like Littoral Combat Ships, foreign corvettes, or PCs, or even smaller systems like SOF systems and RHIBs. It will be particularly interesting to find out if one of the requirements is to swap out a LCS module at sea.

When you take all the interior design modifications out and leave a large open platform to work with, the transition from specific to generic actually enables Joint capabilities. It will be very interesting if in the design process this ship gets a few modifications on its large open deck that allow the large platform to provide limited support of ISO sized modules, not unlike some of the engineering connections built into the LCS module bays. There really is a great deal of flexibility in a ship like this, not only as an intermediate transfer station between sealift and ship-to-shore connectors, but with large spaces come an opportunity for the Navy to use this type of vessel as a forward sea station for littoral vessel operations, a giant floating blue water airfield for ScanEagle UAVs, or a forward operating base at sea for Marine Corps/Army/Air Force operations ranging from over the horizon assault or support to humanitarian operations.

Reconfigurable space can be used in many ways you know, particularly when the ship is designed to provide power to stuff on the platform. In theory, this ship could pull into port and set up a giant floating hospital on its deck with ISO containers if the power distribution system is designed properly.

The JLV looks like a 75% solution with a lot of potential use from a creative Combatant Commander, and I think this could turn out to be a more interesting design than the original MLP.

All we know for certain is this will be the first Navy ship designed since the DDG-1000 and LCS, and even though it is not a warship, it will be interesting to watch.

Navy Buys Three Maritime Positioning Ships

Check out the DoD contract announcements for Thursday.

WTAK-1 Inc., Mobile, Ala., is being awarded $49,650,000 to exercise an option under a previously awarded firm fixed price contract (N00033-82-C-1019) for the purchase of Maritime Prepositioning Ship Sgt Matej Kocak. WTAK-1 Inc., which held Military Sealift Command’s (MSC’s) previous long-term contract for Kocak, is executing the sale on behalf of Wilmington Trust Co., as shipowner and UPB Leasing Ventures as beneficiary. The ship has been under long-term charter to MSC since 1984. The ship will remain crewed by about 30 civilian mariners employed by Waterman Steamship Corp., Mobile, Ala. Kocak is one of 15 Maritime Prepositioning ships that strategically preposition U.S. Marine Corps cargo at sea around the world, making the cargo readily available to warfighters who are flown into a theater of operations. The ship will transfer to U.S. government ownership on Jan. 15, 2009 and will continue to operate worldwide. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. Military Sealift Command, Washington, D.C., is the contracting activity.

Braintree V Maritime Corp., North Quincy, Mass., is being awarded $48,585,495 to exercise an option under a previously awarded firm fixed price contract (N00033-82-C-1036) for the purchase of Maritime Prepositioning Ship Sgt. William R. Button. Braintree V, which held Military Sealift Command’s (MSC’s) previous long-term charter for Button, is executing the sale on behalf of Wilmington Trust Company as shipowner and Fifth Household Finance as Beneficiary. The ship has been under long-term charter to MSC since 1986. The ship will remain crewed by about 30 U.S. merchant mariners employed by American Overseas Marine Corporation of North Quincy, Mass. Button is one of 15 Maritime Prepositioning Ships that strategically preposition U.S. Marine Corps cargo at sea around the world, making the cargo readily available to warfighters who are flown into a theater of operations. The ship will transfer to U.S. government ownership on Jan. 15, 2009, and will continue to operate worldwide. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. Military Sealift Command, Washington, D.C., is the contracting activity.

WTAK-3 Inc., Mobile, Ala., is being awarded $45,650,000 to exercise an option under a previously awarded firm, fixed price contract (N00033-82-C-1023) for the purchase of Maritime Prepositioning Ship Maj. Stephen W. Pless. WTAK-3 Inc., which held Military Sealift Command’s (MSC’s) previous long-term contract for Pless, is executing the sale on behalf of Wilmington Trust as shipowner and UPB Leasing Ventures as beneficiary. The ship has been under long-term charter to MSC since 1985. The ship will remain crewed by about 30 U.S. merchant mariners employed by Waterman Steamship Corp., of Mobile, Ala. WTAK-3 is an affiliate of Waterman Steamship Corp. Pless is one of 15 Maritime Prepositioning ships that strategically preposition U.S. Marine Corps cargo at sea around the world, making the cargo readily available to warfighters who are flown into a theater of operations. The ship will transfer to U.S. government ownership on Jan. 15, 2009, and will continue to operate worldwide. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. Military Sealift Command, Washington, D.C., is the contracting activity.

By my math, the US Navy just paid $146,820,990 for 3 RO/RO ships. MV SGT WILLIAM R. BUTTON (T-AK 3012) and SS SGT MATEJ KOCAK (T-AK 3005) are part of Maritime Prepositioning Squadron Two which provides prepositioning in the Indian Ocean, while SS MAJ Stephen W. Pless is part of Maritime Prepositioning Ship Squadron Three which provides prepositioning in the Western Pacific Ocean.